The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly, the state legislature of Georgia. The state House of Representatives is made of 180 representatives elected from individual legislative districts for a two-year term with no limits. Annual sessions begin on the 2nd Monday in January and run for 40 Legislative days. Each member represents an average of 53,820 residents, as of the 2010 Census.[1] After the 2000 Census, each member represented approximately 48,980 residents.[2]

Sessions

Section 4 of Article III of the Georgia Constitution establishes when the Georgia General Assembly, which the House is a part of, is to meet in regular session. The General Assembly must convene annually by the second Monday in January, and its sessions can last for only forty legislative days.[3] Prefiling begins November 15 and runs until the start of the session.

2013

In 2013, the Legislature was in session from January 14 through March 29.

Major issues

Major issues during the 2013 legislative session included juvenile-justice reform, regulation of coin-operated video games, ethics reform and a budget that was previously facing a $700 million deficit.[4]

2012

2011

In 2011, the House was in regular session from January 10 through April 14. [5]GovernorNathan Deal called the legislature into special session for August 15 to consider congressional and legislative redistricting plans based on the 2010 census. [6]

This chamber was mentioned in a November 2012 Pew Center on the States article that addressed supermajorities at stake in the 2012 election. Supermajority generally means a party controls two-thirds of all seats. While it varies from state to state, being in this position gives a party much greater power. Going into the election, Republicans in the Georgia House held a solid majority and looked to obtain a supermajority.[8]

The following table details the 10 districts with the smallest margin of victory in the November 6 general election.

2000

Elections for the office of Georgia House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on July 18, 2000, and a general election on November 7, 2000.

During the 2000 election, the total contributions to House candidates was $9,462,955. The top 10 contributors were:[14]

2000 Donors, Georgia House of Representatives

Donor

Amount

Georgia Medical Association

$129,850

Georgia Association of Realtors

$109,000

Georgia Optometric Association

$105,950

Georgia House Democratic Caucus

$99,300

House Republican Trust of Georgia

$87,900

Georgia Republican Party

$86,193

Georgia Dental Association

$83,250

Georgia Hospital Association

$77,475

Builders PAC

$71,000

Irle, Mark S

$64,200

Qualifications

Paragraph 3 of Section 2 of Article 3 of the Georgia Constitution states, "At the time of their election, the members of the House of Representatives shall be citizens of the United States, shall be at least 21 years of age, shall have been citizens of this state for at least two years, and shall have been legal residents of the territory embraced within the district from which elected for at least one year."

Vacancies

If there is a vacancy in the House, the vacant seat must be filled by a special election. The Governor must declare a special election no later than 10 days after the vacancy happened. The election must be held no less than 30 days and no later than 60 days after the Governor calls for the election. The counties representing the vacant district are responsible for conducting the election[15].

Representatives

Leadership

The House of Representatives elects its own Speaker as well as a Speaker Pro Tempore. The Speaker Pro Tempore becomes Speaker in case of the death, resignation, or permanent disability of the Speaker. The Speaker Pro Tempore serves until a new Speaker is elected. In addition there is a clerk of the house who is charged with overseeing the flow of legislation through the body.[16]

History

Partisan balance 1992-2013

From 1992-2013, the Democratic Party was the majority in the Georgia State House of Representatives for the first 13 years and the Republicans were the majority for the last nine years. During the final nine years of the study, Georgia was under Republican trifectas.

Across the country, there were 577 Democratic and 483 Republican State Houses of Representatives from 1992 to 2013.

Over the course of the 22-year study, state governments became increasingly more partisan. At the outset of the study period (1992), 18 of the 49 states with partisan legislatures had single-party trifectas and 31 states had divided governments. In 2013, only 13 states have divided governments, while single-party trifectas held sway in 36 states, the most in the 22 years studied.